Writing Journal 9/20
While reading Multiliteracies for a Digital Age, I recognized a familiar topic of discussion that has never truly been addressed within modern society. As technology advanced throughout the millennia, it is evident that it currently plays a major role throughout our education systems today. Computers are commonly used throughout different educational levels ranging from college courses all the way down to kindergarten. The problem is that, although these institutions utilize technology by having students use computers and other technical devices to accomplish class assignments, there is no true guide to which students can refer so that they can efficiently accomplish their tasks. This hinders education as students struggle with initiating assignments while attempting to learn a technological process due to not having the proper training or in-depth experience in navigating certain computer interfaces.
Although the majority of people in a first world country are accustomed with using technology on a daily basis, it is not always the case and there are many people who may not be fortunate to experience such a luxury. People who have grown up in Urban areas here within the United States, people from foreign or third world countries, national and international people who are less than fortunate, people who have grown up in cultures where they do not use technology or have been denied the use of technology are such an example. One thing that really stood out for me from the text was the passage in which it addresses that there is a significant technological gap between people of different races and ethnic backgrounds as well as genders within the United States.
I personally believe that the overall goal in education is to gain knowledge by pursuing a passion and becoming proficient in it. Humans from all walks of life attend colleges, universities, and educational institutions to gain knowledge through critical thinking and to better themselves by excelling within their chosen fields of study. Multiliteracies for a Digital Age stresses the importance of educating students in computer literacy so that they may excel with the technology present in today’s modern world and thus expand their intelligence. By developing an understanding in computer literacy, students, teachers, and people within a society, can learn to express themselves in their own unique ways and thus widen the spectrum of learning.
Technology will continue to evolve as humanity becomes more advanced, thus it is essential that people strive to gain knowledge independently and willingly. Having the confidence to interact with their peers and to develop a unified understanding of the evolving technology around them, are the proper steps towards seeing an improvement in our education system. As Multiliteracies for a Digital Age states, this change will not occur in an instant and will always be continuous. However, the focus should begin by integrating over time the importance of learning and growing with technology so that humans as a whole evolve and adapt alongside it.
On an ending note, Multiliteracies for a Digital Age has motivated me to address the lacking computer literacy within my own University. Although ESU is a relatively smaller institution than most, I urge that they redirect their resources towards developing proper computer literacy and technology education overall. Starting with developing a friendlier user interference so that its current and future students have access to the necessary tools to excel within their academics. A plan in which all teachers engage and demonstrate how to simply use D2L and what will be demanded of students within this interface, is just one step towards becoming technologically well versed.
For this post I used visual and text to provide the imagery that came to mind when writing this post and relating to the topic at hand. I used text to explain my thoughts and understandings of the assigned reading.
